Predictors of Late Complications After Repair of Tetralogy of Fallot

Although long-term survival is excellent among patients with tetralogy of Fallot that is repaired during childhood, these patients remain at risk for late ventricular arrhythmia and sudden death. Investigators gathered patient information from 6 hospital databases and retrospectively analyzed surgical, electrocardiographic, and late hemodynamic data, as well as data on occurrence of arrhythmia and sudden death, for a 10-year period (1985 to 1995).

Of 793 patients with repaired tetralogy (mean age at repair, 8 years; mean time from repair, 21 years), 33 suffered sustained monomorphic ventricular tachycardia (VT), 16 died suddenly, and 29 developed sustained atrial flutter or fibrillation. Multivariate analysis revealed that QRS-complex durati…